


Cracks in Her Wall

by Hinn_Raven



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Relationships, Crossover, Gen, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-22
Updated: 2012-12-22
Packaged: 2019-08-17 17:39:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16520981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hinn_Raven/pseuds/Hinn_Raven
Summary: There's a crack in Artemis Crock's wall. Luckily for everyone, the Doctor happens to crash in the alley by her house, changing the course of history.





	Cracks in Her Wall

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, the things you find when going back through your old files. Here’s a never-before-seen fic! A Doctor Who/Young Justice Crossover, with Artemis taking the place of Amy.
> 
> I am so ashamed right now.

Artemis Crock stared at the crack in her wall, clutching at the bow Jade had given her tightly. It ran right below her Alice in Wonderland poster, and seemed to be getting  _larger_.

She got to her feet slowly, walking backwards, not taking her eyes off the crack as she exited her room. She grabbed the phone, hoping it would work this time, and tried to dial the police. They’d be able to help her.

But there wasn’t any dial tone. Jade must have forgotten to pay the phone bill before she left. Just like she’d forgotten to pay for the electricity, back in January.  

Artemis opened the junk drawer, searching for loose change. She could go to the pay phone in the alley nearby. She was pretty sure it wasn’t broken.

She collapsed her bow, and put it in her pocket before exiting her apartment. She walked down the stairs of the apartment complex into the alley, and walked towards the phone booth.

_Out of Order_ , the sign read, and Artemis felt her heart plummet. Now what?

There was a bright flash of light, and Artemis cried out in fear as a large blue box fell out of the sky, imbedding itself into the already broken concrete of the alley.

_Police Public Call Box_ , Artemis read. Her hopes lifted. Maybe they  _had_  gotten her call.

“Hello?” Artemis asked, approaching the box. Jade would call her stupid, but Artemis was curious and nine.

The doors flew open, and a man with ridiculous hair and a raggedy dress shirt exited the box.

“Hello!” the man said cheerfully, with a weird accent. Artemis titled her head to the side, looking at him.

“Who are you?” she asked, watching as the man pulled himself out into the alley and had a look around, still smiling widely. “Why are you wet?”

“I’m the Doctor,” the man said. “And I fell into the swimming pool.”

“There’s a swimming pool in your box?” Artemis asked, confused.

“Sure is!” The Doctor said, running his hands through his soaking hair. “In the library too,” he said, peering back into his box. “Everything’s messed up in there.”

 “Are you here to help me with the crack in my wall?”

The Doctor turned to her, looking her up and down. “Of course I am,” he said. Then he suddenly brightened. “Do you have anything to eat?”

* * *

“I’ve got…” Artemis said, opening the door of the refrigerator, “Milk, ketchup, some lasagna, cherry yogurt, mustard, eggs, carrots…” She looked at one thing that resembled cheese, but was covered with mold, “And some cheese.”

“Hmm…” the Doctor said, pulling open the freezer. “Ooh! Fishsticks! And… custard!” he said, beaming. Artemis laughed. This guy was  _weird_.

“What’s your accent?” Artemis said, eating the orange slices that he had attempted to throw away before Artemis had stopped him. Food was food, after all. Artemis wasn’t sure how long the money Jade had left would last.

“British,” he said, dipping his corndog in the chocolate syrup and taking a huge bite out of it. “And yours…” he squinted at her. “Are we in Gotham?” Artemis nodded. “Can I tell you a secret?” Artemis nodded again, mouth full of orange. “Gotham’s rubbish.” Artemis laughed again, mouth still fill of orange.

“I like it,” she said loyally after swallowing. “It’s my home.”

The Doctor grinned at her, finishing his first corndog. “What’s your name?”

“Artemis,” she said, spitting out a pit.  “Artemis Crock.”

“Artemis Crock,” he said, voice and eyes distant for a moment. Then his attention snapped back to her. “Beautiful name, Artemis,” he continued conversationally. “Greek goddess of archery, animals, the moon, and…” he halted suddenly, turning a funny shade of red.

“The other kids at school don’t think so,” Artemis said gloomily. She hadn’t gone to school in a while, but she remembered the teasing about her name. “They say it’s stupid.”

The Doctor frowned. “Well, not all of us can have normal,  _boring_  names like Susie or James or Dark Claude, Destroyer of Worlds. Boring names, those ones. You should tell those kids that.”

Artemis laughed.  “Why was the swimming pool in your box in the library?”

“I think the bigger question  _is_ , Artemis, why is the library in the swimming pool?” the man said seriously.

Artemis grinned again. “You’re funny.”

“Good,” the man said, nodding. “Funny’s good.”

“I guess,” Artemis said, shrugging.

“So…” the Doctor said, leaning back, wiping the chocolate off his nose. “Where are your parents Artemis, Artemis Crock?”

“Don’t have any,” Artemis replied, shrugging again. “Just my sister Jade. And she’s gone now. Just me.”

“Oh?” the Doctor’s eyebrows went together. “I think I should have a look at that crack in your wall, Artemis Crock.”

Artemis smiled, and got up as he did. He slipped his hands into hers, and Artemis felt mysteriously safe.

* * *

 

“Can I come?” Artemis asked, looking at the box longingly as she watched the madman get ready to enter his box, which he claimed was a time machine, ready to explode. They’d saved the world from Prisoner 4479, and now he had to go.

“Just need to make a quick pop into the future,” the Doctor said, grabbing his rope. “Too dangerous at the moment. “I’ll be back in five minutes.”

Artemis looked at him, doubting. “Promise?” Jade had said that too, once.

The Doctor looked her in the eye. “Promise,” he said, looking her in the eyes. “I promise. I’ll be right back.”

Artemis swallowed a lump in her throat, and nodded. “Okay,” she whispered.

He smiled at her, eyes twinkling. “Geronimo!” He disappeared into his box. “That water is cold!” she heard him shout before the box disappeared.

Artemis ran back to her apartment, grabbed her teddy bear, collapsible bow, and her battered copy of  _Alice in Wonderland_ , and ran back.

She waited.

And waited.

And waited.

* * *

 

Artemis Crock didn’t live in the apartment anymore. She lived in the alley with the broken phone booth. When she’d been a stupid kid who’d believed the word of men who’d fallen out of the sky and promised her all of time and space, she’d decided to move her few things into the alley after she’d been kicked out of her apartment. Her bed was in the phone booth, and in the night, she still found herself staring at the whole in the pavement that had never gotten fixed, wondering if her madman would come back.

Stupid fairytales, Artemis thought bitterly.

Artemis raised her bow, and fired another shot into the alley wall. It was a good hobby, one that kept her in shape enough to be able to fend for herself. Which is exactly what she did; just like Jade said.

Artemis looked at the sky tonight. A beautiful full moon. Artemis swallowed a lump in her throat as she thought of what the Doctor had said she was named after.

She pulled open the door of her “home,” and crawled into the mattress she had pulled there six years ago, just three days after the Doctor had failed to return. If it hadn’t been for the absence of the crack in her wall, Artemis might have thought she’d merely dreamed about him.

She closed her eyes, and willed herself to sleep. As she did, an unusual sound filled her alley. Her eyes snapped open. “Doctor?” she whispered. The sound was beautiful, almost musical. It filled her with a feeling of hope. It was the noise of the Doctor’s magical box.

Upright this time, the box seemed smaller nevertheless as it appeared in her alley. She grabbed her bow, and pushed open the door, just in time to see the Doctor barrel out. “Artemis!” he called, grinning. “I’m back!”

Artemis got to her feet, and walked toward him. “Hello Doctor.”

“Hello!” the man said, and had the  _audacity_  to smile at her. “Where’s Artemis?”

She glared. “ _I’m_  Artemis, and you’re late.”

The Doctor at least had the decency to look horrified. “I seem to have overshot a bit.”

“You think?” she said, crossing her arms. “Six  _years_ , Doctor. Six  _years._ ”

“What are you doing here?” he said, looking around. “You didn’t…”

“I live here now,” she said. “Landlord kicked me out three days after you left me. I couldn’t pay the rent.”

The man looked ashamed. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Artemis shrugged, bitterness obvious on her face. “It happened.”

“It shouldn’t have,” he said, grabbing her hand. “It shouldn’t have.”

She let him keep it, allowing the feeling of security wash over her again. She shouldn’t feel that, not after that man had promised her time and space and left her to hardship and hunger, but she did.

“Artemis Crock,” he said, pushing her long hair behind her ear. “The girl who waited. You’ve waited far too long.”

Artemis wondered if he knew she’d waited right here, out in the cold, for two days before returning to her apartment, crying. “Yes,” she said simply.

“Come with me,” he said, smiling.

“You mean it?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” he said, leaning forward. “I can’t give back those years, Artemis, Artemis Crock, but I can make up for it. I can show you  _everything_.”

“Everything?”

“Everything, anything, anytime, anyplace, anyone, everyone!” he said. “I can show you the Diamond Star of Telliton XII, or introduce you to the queen of the Amazons! You and I, Artemis Crock, will be  _amazing_.”

Artemis looked at the box. She looked at the Doctor. She looked at the alley. She smiled. “Let’s go.”

* * *

 

They rescued planets, saved civilizations, and ran a lot. They defeated Daleks and he introduced her to Shakespeare. She got to meet Robin Hood, and had a lot of fun learning archery tricks from him, while the Doctor caught up with Little John.

“A circus?” she asked, looking at the Doctor with a raised eyebrow. “You want to go to the circus?”

“Not just  _any_  circus,” the Doctor said. “ _Haley’s_  Circus, home of the Flying Graysons!  _The_ most brilliant acrobatic act that will  _ever_  be seen this side of the Atlantic!”

Artemis laughed, and allowed him to lead her into the crowd. He pushed binoculars into her hand, and began experimenting with circus food.

Artemis enjoyed herself significantly, and found herself looking forward to seeing the Flying Graysons, which were apparently a big deal.

“Doctor!” she whispered as she turned her attention to the acrobatic equipment. “I think there’s something wrong with the trapeze!”

The Doctor froze. “What city are we in?” he demanded. “Did you see?”

“We’re back in Gotham,” Artemis said, and she found the Time Lord grabbing the binoculars out of her hands.

“Not now, not here,” the man whispered, focusing. “He’s  _thirteen_ , he’s far too old…”

“Doctor, what’s going on?”

The Doctor looked at her, and Artemis didn’t like what was going on with his face. He looked  _furious_. “Someone has tampered with history Artemis.”

“You do it all the time!” she said.

“Not like this,” he said. “Never like this.”

“What are we going to do?”

Something changed in the Doctor’s eyes. “Artemis, have you heard of Bruce Wayne?”

Artemis shook her head.

“What about Batman?” the man demanded, voice almost desperate.

“Who?”

He grabbed her hand. “Come on!”

“Artemis, whatever you do,” the Doctor said as he dragged her to the edge of the ring. “Save the boy Dick. Okay? Please.”

“What do I do?” Artemis asked, looking at him.

“Climb to the top, and try to stop them from using that trapeze,” he said. “Stop them. Or at least stop Dick. Or they’ll all die.”

Artemis nodded quickly, grabbing a hold of the ladder imbedded into the side of the pole, and started climbing, quicker than she had ever thought possible.

She was barely making it up the last rung when the crowd roared approval as the Flying Graysons took flight. “No!” she tackled Dick, the smallest boy to the ground, stopping him from grabbing on to his mother’s hand and taking flight with the rest of his family.

“What are you doing?” he yelled, squirming under her. “Who the hell are you?”

“Get your family out of there!” she yelled back. “Someone’s tampered with the equipment!”

Dick’s face paled. “Mom! Dad!” he shouted, just as the rope snapped.

Artemis held Dick Grayson tightly as Mary and John Grayson fell.

* * *

 

“Come with us,” Artemis said softly to the boy. “Me and the Doctor.”

The boy looked up at her, blue eyes wide. “You mean it?”

The Doctor nodded, smiling softly. “All of the universe, Dick. Come and see it.”

Dick smiled for the first time since Artemis had known him, and walked through the doors of the TARDIS.

* * *

 

“Hello sweetie,” the blonde woman with curly hair said, after she’d destroyed that idiotic magician’s top hat that the Doctor had found in Las Vegas.

“Who’s this?” Artemis asked the Doctor, who had spun around on his heel, eying the woman cautiously.

“Professor River Song,” he said, gesturing to her.

“Oh, I’m going to be a professor some day?” the woman asked, holstering her gun as she smiled in a slightly predatorily way. “Spoilers!”

“Spoilers?” Dick asked, looking at the Doctor.

“Time travel,” River said, ruffling Dick’s hair. “We meet in a strictly non-linear fashion.” She turned to Artemis, smiling. “I love what you’ve done with your hair, Artemis,” she added, reaching over to finger the green arrow-shaped charm Artemis had braided into her ponytail.

“Thanks,” Artemis said, smiling.

“So,  _Doctor_  Song,” the Doctor said,. “What trouble have you brought for me this time?”

River smiled at him. “Oh, I’ll tell you soon enough, sweetie.” She adjusted his ridiculous bow tie, smile growing larger.

“Are those two married or something?” Dick muttered to Artemis, watching in amazement as the two flirted.

“Must be,” Artemis whispered back. “Oh look! She got his sonic screwdriver while he’s all flustered!”

“Should we tell him?”

“Let him figure it out on his own. It’ll be funny to see his face.”

“Ooh, it’ll be asterous!”

“Asterous?”

“Opposite of  disaster! Since, you know, ‘like’ is the opposite of ‘dislike,’ obviously ‘aster’ is the opposite of ‘aster!’”  

“Geek,” Artemis said fondly.

“Yep!” Dick said cheerfully.

* * *

 

Wally West was infuriating, clever, really attractive, and was  _very_  good at running. The fact that he had helped the Doctor come up with the latest thing the Doctor needed to use to take down the Sontarans helped Artemis’s opinion of him somewhat, but not very much.

“Can we keep him?” Dick asked the Doctor.

The Doctor grinned, that weird look in his eye again, the same one that Artemis had seen in Haley’s Circus. It sent a shiver up her spine, but Artemis pushed it to the side of her mind. It didn’t matter.

Most likely.

* * *

 

“Atlantis!” The Doctor proclaimed, holding out his arms widely as he gestured to the monitor. “Beautiful city!  _Amazing_  city!”

“And… it’s under water,” Artemis said, rolling her eyes. “So how are we going to visit it?”

The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a few weird devices. “Re-breathers from the 30th Century,” he said, smiling as he tossed one to her and the boys. “Let’s go.”

The TARDIS was reluctant to let them fill her control room with water, but the Doctor finally negotiated with her, so they got to explore after all.

“I am Kaldur’ahm,” the dark skinned boy said, shaking the Doctor’s hand cautiously.

“I’m the Doctor!’ he replied. “This is Artemis, Wally, and Dick. It’s a pleasure to meet you Kaldur.”

After Kaldur helped them save Atlantis from what the Doctor liked to call “a tiny  _incursion_ of mutated giant squid”, it was Wally’s turn to invite the Atlantean to join them.

Artemis pushed open the door to the TARDIS, smiling. “I brought our boys back, nice and safe,” she told the TARDIS. “And they picked up another one. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“We’re not your boys!” Wally protested, looking up at her with a scowl.

“Yes we are,” the Doctor and Dick chorused, while Kaldur raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Artemis smirked. “So…” she turned to face her boys, leaning against the consol. “Where to next?”

* * *

 

“So wait,” Dick said, leaning forward. “Are you saying that there are actual Martians?”

“Yes!” the Doctor said, dancing around the consol, pressing buttons and flipping levers. “Well, first there were the Ice Warriors of old, but nowadays…” he grabbed the monitor and showed it to them. “The Martians.”

“Wait, are they actually green?” Artemis asked, incredulous.

“The majority,” the Doctor said. “There are green, red, and white Martians.”

“Awesome,” Wally breathed, eyes wide. “Let’s put on our space suits!”

“M’gann M’orzz,” the white Martian said when they asked her for her name.

The Doctor got that  _look_  again, and then beamed at her. “Hello M’gann! I’m the Doctor!”

“The Doctor?” she asked, looking at him. “ _The_  Doctor?”

“The one and only,” he said, adjusting his bow tie. “M’gann M’orzz,” he said. “How would you like to go to Earth?”

M’gann looked delighted. “You mean it?”

“Of course,” the Doctor said, beaming.

“I thought we were going to explore Mars,” Wally said, devastated.

“Slight detour,” the Doctor said.

“Why?” Artemis asked, intrigued.

The Doctor pointed the large cliffs of Mars, which were inscribed with words.  _Hello Sweetie._ Below it was a series of letters, numbers, and Greek symbols.

“River!” Artemis said, delighted.

“Who?” Wally asked.

“We’ll explain on the way!” Dick said, grabbing M’gann’s hand. “Come on!”

* * *

 

“River!” Dick said, throwing his arms around her.

“Dick!” she said. “Artemis!” she pulled Artemis into the hug too. “Hello Wally,” she said, nodding. “Kaldur. Oh, and M’gann!” she pulled the Martian into another hug. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Um… how does she know our names?” Wally asked, eying the beautiful older woman.

“Time Travel,” the Doctor groused. “We keep meeting in the wrong order.”

Artemis laughed. “It drives him  _mad_.”

“More so than usual?” Kaldur asked, skeptical.

Dick nodded, grinning. “So what’s wrong, River?”

Doctor Song smiled. “Cadmus…” she said, “Has been up to some tricks.”

“Tricks?” the Doctor asked, brightening. “What kind?”

“Cloning,” River said.

The Doctor’s eyes grew to impossible sizes. “Oh.”

“Doctor?” Artemis asked, looking up at him. “Oh?”

“Spoilers,” the two chorused.

Artemis and Dick groaned in unison. “Typical.” Dick groused.

“Come on,” River said. “I’ll show you Project Kr.”

* * *

 

Project Kr, as it turns out, was a teenaged,  _really_  attractive super alien, who River and the Doctor insisted on calling Conner. M’gann broke through the brainwashing that had caused him to attack them, and then after the Doctor blew Cadmus to kingdom come to destroy Project Weeping Angel, River and Conner joined them in the TARDIS.

“I’m just here for a little bit,” River said breezily, as she usurped control of the consol from the Doctor with ease. “I really should get back to Stormcage. The poor guards get nervous if I don’t swing by every few weeks.”

“Stormcage is supposed to be impossible to break out of,” M’gann said with a frown.

“For normal people,” Artemis said, smiling as she went to go comfort the Doctor’s bruised ego.

“I’m Doctor River Song,” she said. “Hardly normal.”

Something flickered in M’gann’s gaze, and she looked at the Doctor. “Does he know?” she whispered to River. “What you do?”

River looked at M’gann, and M’gann saw sorrow in her ancient eyes. “No. He doesn’t. And you can’t tell him. His time hasn’t come yet.”

M’gann looked at the Time Lord, and hummed the mourning song that all of the Martians had sung as the Doctor’s corpse burned in the valley in Utah.

* * *

 

“Happy Birthday, Artemis!” The Doctor said, throwing an arm over her shoulder as they walked through the streets of Gotham, with the others trailing behind them.

“It’s not until tomorrow!” Artemis laughed, not even making an effort to shrug off the Time Lord’s arm.

“We’re celebrating early!” he told her, grinning ear to ear, reaching into his jacket and removing a small red box with a white bow tied around it. “Open your present!”

Artemis grinned up at him and opened the box— it contained a beautiful green arrowhead made of Gallifreyan Emerald, one that she had seen in the market place of the very first planet he had taken her too. “Very rare,” he had told her. “Can only be found on three planets.”

“Galifrey,” she said, looking up at him. “That’s where you’re from.”

He nodded. “That one  _is_  from Galifrey. Like me.” He smiled.

Conner suddenly winced, clasping his hands over his ears. “Something’s wrong!” Conner groaned, eyes screwed shut.

* * *

 

“Where’s it coming from?” the Doctor demanded. Conner pointed. “Come on then,” the Doctor said, looking worried.

“The crack from my wall,” Artemis whispered, looking up at it, struggling to find give in the ropes that tied her in place. “Doctor, why is it here?”

“Tell them, Time Lord,” the bald man—Lex Luthor, apparently—mocked. “Tell them.”

The Doctor bowed his head low. “That crack… it’s the TARDIS.”

“What?” Wally said, craning his neck to look at the Time Lord. “That’s not the TARDIS!”

“How can it be the TARDIS?” Dick demanded.

The boy with horns for hair and a cat in his arms cackled. “Is now.”

“Klarion,” the Doctor glared. “Why am I not surprised to find out you were behind it?”

“He’s a part of the Light, Doctor,” Ra’s al Ghul said calmly.

“So you destroyed my TARDIS, ripped a whole in the fabric of reality…” the Doctor said, working on untying Artemis’s wrists as he talked. “Why?”

“You’ve interfered in our plans too often, Time Lord,” Queen Bee said, glaring. “The only way to stop the cracks…” She smiled.

“Would be for me to sacrifice myself,” the Doctor finished. “A big complicated time event would seal the cracks for good.”

“Correct,” Vandal Savage said.

“And if I refuse?” the Doctor said, radiating fury.

“Then the Earth will be destroyed,” Ra’s said. “You knew it was coming, Doctor. Do not pretend otherwise.”

“Doctor?” M’gann asked.

“The cracks have been eating at your lives,” Ocean Master said. “Destroying your futures.”

“What do you mean?” Conner demanded, glaring at the Red Sun generator hanging from the ceiling.

“Conner…” the Doctor whispered, closing his eyes. “Do you know why you wear an S on your shirt?”

Conner shook his head, and the Doctor seemed to know that Conner had done so, despite having his eyes closed. “Do you know why you’re so strong?”

Conner shook his head again.

Lex Luthor laughed. “Superman’s own clone doesn’t remember him!” He seemed to be delighted by that idea.

“Superman?” Conner asked, frowning.

“A great hero,” the Doctor said, slumping in his ropes. “Absorbed by the cracks.”

The teens shared incredulous glances.

“M’gann,” the Doctor continued, opening his eyes and turning his attention to the White Martian. “Do you remember why you know so much of Earth? Why you’ve always wanted to come here?”

M’gann screwed up her face, trying to recall. “No…” she whispered.

“Your Uncle J’ohnn,” the Doctor said. “He told you about Earth.”

M’gann didn’t react. “And he’s gone too?”

The Doctor nodded, weary.

“What about me?” Artemis asked, unable to take her eyes off of the crack.

“Your parents, Artemis,” the Doctor said softly.

“I don’t have parents,” Artemis insisted. “I just had Jade!”

“And why did Jade leave?” the Doctor asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Think, Artemis! Why?”

“I don’t know!”

“Concentrate! Why did she leave?”

“She wanted to get away from Dad!” Artemis nearly shouted. Her face paled. “But I don’t have a dad…”

“Not anymore,” the Doctor whispered.

“You know who they are Doctor,” Lex Luthor said. “You know that they have to have their futures. And the only way to get them back…”

“We’ll give you some time to think about it,” Queen Bee said, turning away and leaving the room, the other members of the Light following her, just as the ropes fell of Artemis’s wrists. She turned around and set to untying the others.

“Come on,” she said, grabbing the Doctor’s hand. “We’ve got to get out of here, before we’re absorbed by that thing!”

The Doctor didn’t move, staring at the crack.

“Doctor, come on!” Dick tugged at the man’s sleeve. “You’re not going to  _listen_  to them, are you? You can’t!”

“Yeah Doc!” Wally said, looking panicky. “The universe  _needs_ you! You can’t just… not exist anymore!”

“You’ve saved the universe time and time again!” M’gann added, her face milky white, but her form human for the sake of convenience. “Without you…”

“The chaos caused might rip the universe apart, before it even had a chance to exist,” Kaldur finished. “Doctor, you cannot seriously consider doing such a thing.”

“We can handle the cracks,” Conner added, crossing his arms. “If we just stop the TARDIS from exploding…”

“It’s too late,” the Doctor said, running a hand through his hair. “It’s already too late.”

“Doctor, are you even listening to us!” Artemis demanded, voice thick with tears. “You  _can’t_  listen to them! You are  _not_  allowed to just go into that crack and sacrifice yourself!” Tears broke free, trailing down her face. “You can’t!”

The Doctor turned his attention to her, cupping her cheek with his hand, and brushing her hair out of her face. “Artemis Crock,” he said softly. “The girl who waited. The girl who fought destiny.”

“What?” Artemis asked, confused.

“By all rights,” the Doctor said, looking her right in the eyes. “You should have been a villain. But you fought it. You fought it, Artemis. You fought your destiny, and became your own person. A hero in your own right.”

“Doctor, I don’t get what you’re saying,” Artemis said, hands loose at her sides.

“You all have destinies. You’re  _meant_  to save the Earth… the Universe.”

“With  _you_!” Conner snapped. “ _You_ are meant to help us!”

The Doctor smiled wryly. “No. I wasn’t supposed to interfere. But when I noticed events were off… I had to intervene.”

“Time can be re-written,” Wally said.

“Not this, Wally West. Not this.” He turned his attention back to Artemis. “I need to give  _all_  of you the lives you should have had.”

“It  _can’t_  be better than this,” Artemis said bitterly. “It can’t be.”

The Doctor smiled, leaning in to kiss her forehead. “Artemis, Artemis Crock. You will be  _amazing_.”

Artemis was crying freely now. She threw herself at him, pulling him into her tight embrace. “I can’t lose you,” she sobbed.

He stroked her hair, closing his eyes tightly. “It’ll be alright Artemis. You’ll see.” He pulled back, pushing her hair behind her ear. He smiled at her before leaning in to whisper in her ear. “I’ll be there for your birthday, you’ll see.”

He took a step away, and Artemis just stood there as the Doctor grinned. “Geronimo, then!” he turn and ran into the light.

The last thing that Artemis Crock knew from that world was the feeling of Wally grabbing her right hand, and Dick grabbing her left.

The six of them stood in a line, hand in hand, as the world around them faded.

* * *

 

The Team walked in civilian costume through London, searching for their target. Green Arrow and Dinah, also in civilian dress, walked beside them, posing as their chaperones.

Artemis was too busy talking with M’gann to notice the small box on the ground before she tripped over it.

“Watch where you’re going, kiddo!” Ollie said cheerfully, grabbing her arm to steady her.

Artemis grinned at him before reaching down to grab the box. It was a red velvet box—the kind that was used to store jewelry. A white bow was tied around it, and from it dangled a tag.

_Happy Birthday Artemis! Love from, River_

Artemis nearly dropped the box. “What’s wrong?” Robin said, taking it from her. Wally peered over his shoulder to read the tag.

“It’s your birthday?” M’gann squealed. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Artemis shrugged, head reeling. “It didn’t seem important.” She snagged the box back from Robin.

“Well, who’s River?” Conner asked.

“I don’t… know,” Artemis whispered, pulling off the ribbon.

“Artemis, I do not believe that it is wise to open a package of unknown—” Kaldur began, but she opened it nonetheless.

Artemis reached in, and with shaking fingers, removed a green arrowhead pendent.

“That’s beautiful!” M’gann gushed. “What’s it made of?”

“Galifreyan Emerald,” Artemis whispered, holding it up to the light, allowing the stone to shine. “I saw it at the market on Tillian IV, right before we headed to the circus…”

“We?” Wally asked.

“Tillian IV?” Robin asked.

Artemis’s face was clouded, as if she was trying to remember something distant, but important.

“Artemis?” Ollie asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Is something wrong?”

Clarity suddenly erupted on her face. “He’s here!” She took off at a run, clutching her present firmly in her hand.

They all exchanged looks, confused. “Who?” Dinah asked. Ollie shrugged. They followed her.

Artemis skidded to a halt in front of a young man, who wore a tweed suit and a bow tie. “Artemis Crock,” the man said, beaming widely as he held out his arms. “You are  _brilliant_ , you are.”

“Doctor!” Artemis cried, throwing her arms around him. “On time for once!”

Doctor swung her around, laughing with joy. “Well, I had a promise to keep.”

Robin spoke first. “Who’s this?”

Artemis turned to them, grin fading. “They don’t remember you,” she said to the man, worried.

He smiled at her. “Side effect of the crack, don’t worry. They’ll remember soon enough.”

Suddenly, M’gann grinned widely. “ _Hello_ , Megan! It’s the Doctor!” She launched herself through the air toward her old friend.

Suddenly, Dick let out a cackle, and ran up to the Doctor, throwing his arms around the man. “Doctor!”

Wally and Conner remembered at the same time, joining the massive hug that was forming over the two-hearted alien. Kaldur was the last to join, but he was just as enthusiastic.

Artemis grinned widely as she ruffled Dick’s hair. Her family was  _really_  together now.

The TARDIS was delighted to see them again. Artemis ran her hand along the consol, listening as Dinah and Ollie made confused noises, while Conner attempted to explain it to them, “because he’s the newest,” as Dick had put it.

“Everything’s alright,” the Doctor told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Everything’s fine now.”

Artemis looked at him. “Doctor… I don’t remember who the Light were.”

The Doctor looked down. “Neither can I,” he admitted. He gripped her hand tightly. “But we’ll figure it out. We always do.”

Artemis grinned at her best friend. “So…”

“All of time, all of space, everything that ever happened, or ever will,” the Doctor said, turning around, to face the rest of Artemis’s family, a humongous grin on his face. “Where do you want to start?”


End file.
